Gwacheon Temple dismantled - KBS
2020.04.20
The commercial building in Byeolyang-dong, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, where the Sincheonji Church of Jesus chapel is located, was crowded today in the early morning (20th). In front of the building, about 10 young people wearing working gloves were spotted, and they looked in their early 20s. They loaded the truck with benches and other furniture coming from the clearing of the Sincheonji’s chapel that occupied the 9th and 10th floors of the building.
"There's no company to do the work." The believers are rallied
I took the elevator to get to the chapel and got off on the eighth floor of the building. In front of the stairs leading to the ninth floor, a young man in his 20s wearing a mask was blocking the reporters. On the steps behind him, more people around the same age were standing in line about one meter apart . When I told him that I had come to make a report about the ninth floor, he said, "I didn't receive any notice. Please wait a moment." While I was waiting for an answer, I could see people carrying the furniture behind the glass door at the top of the stair. They carried wooden benches, the kind that can be commonly seen in churches and cathedrals. If they didn't use the central elevator, they must have carried them all the way down the staircase to the groundfloor, from the 9th or the 10th floor. The young man guarding the stairs did not answer when asked whether he was a Shincheonji believer, but according to the Gwacheon local government officials, they are probably Shincheonji members. One of the Gwacheon officials said, "I understand that Shincheonji mobilized the believers directly because there was no company that would take care of the moving." I had been waiting in front of the stair for 10 minutes when the intelligence and the detectives of the Gwacheon Police Station arrived. They said, "The 9th and 10th floors are Shincheonji’s property, so you can't film," and added, "Please cooperate because there have been some problems with other reporters that tried to take pictures, just a moment ago." In the end, I couldn't capture any image of the clearing of the 9th and 10th floor.
Clearing planned over three days starting from the 20th.
The clearing of the Shincheonji Gwacheon chapel will take place over three days, from today to the 22nd. According to the Gwacheon local government, Shincheonji was unable to find a moving company and moved independently, so the local government allowed a sufficient amount of time for the moving, in consideration of manpower and other factors. Gwacheon local government issued an indefinite closure order for the Sincheonji facilities in its jurisdiction until the Corona 19 issue will be resolved, but the shutdown was temporarily suspended in order to clear the chapel. The closure order is temporarily suspended not only for the chapel but also for the four lodgings in Munwon-dong. The measure is designed to allow people to move their belongings out of the chapel or other relevant facilities such as accommodations. In fact, at the lodging in Munwon-dong that I visited this morning, I saw people related to Shincheonji carrying their luggage.
The chapel has been dismantled, but it is unsure whether it will be sold or not.
The dismantlement of the Gwacheon chapel in Shincheonji is due to the pressure of Gwacheon local government. Mayor Kim Jong-cheon held a press conference on the 9th of last month and said, "Sincheonji is using a space, that should serve as a cultural and sport facility, for a non authorized purpose, changing it into a religious facility, a chapel," adding, "We will go to the bottom of this issue." Later on, Gwacheon local government ordered Shincheonji to restore the space to its original state as a cultural and sport facility, and said it would impose a 700 million won fine if it does not comply. Shincheonji has been using this space as a chapel for more than a decade, and although they have requested a repurposing six times, theTownh Hall has always denied, citing "opposition from Christian organizations and citizens in the jurisdiction" and "preparing measures for the civil complaint settlement." Even if both Shincheonji and Gwacheon City Hall were aware of the illegal condition, the chapel has been maintained and no legal action was undertaken. However, as public criticism of Shincheonji has increased in the wake of the Corona 19 incident, the local government has addressed the issue of the illegal use of the chapel. In response, Sincheonji protested, saying, "The Gwacheon City Hall did not accept the change of purpose due to the opposition of the public opinion, this is bad administration" but eventually accepted Gwacheon's demand for clearing the chapel, in consideration of their negative public opinion. However, this does not mean that they will leave the building altogether. The 9th and 10th floors where the chapel was located were not rented, they are Shincheonji’s property. A Shincheonji official said, "We cannot worship in that space, but we can have meetings," adding, "Nothing has been decided about what to do after the disbandment."
Eviction petition, "It's impossible to constrain the religion with law”
The negative public opinion about Shincheonji in Gwacheon may seem to be caused by the Corona 19 events, but it has actually been steady since around 2007. In 2007,a Citizens Alliance for Shincheonji Countermeasures having the christian community as its centre, was established in Gwacheon and it is still active. They don't only demand the disbandment of the illegal chapel, but they also want Sincheonji to leave Gwacheon. After the Corona 19 incident, they submitted an eviction petition with more than 13,000 signatures to the Gwacheon Town Hall. A Gwacheon official said, "It is impossible to constrain the religion with law," adding, "The construction department and other departments are dealing with the illegal activities of Shincheonji such as illegal chapels." In other words, Shincheonji's illegal behavior can be corrected by the related laws, but the religious activities themselves can not be prevented . In fact, there are reportedly at least five other Shincheonji facilities in Gwacheon, but none of them are illegally occupied. A Shincheonji official said, "Freedom of religion is a right stated in the Constitution," and added, "Freedom of religion should be protected."
Original article: https://n.news.naver.com/article/056/0010822092
Disclaimer! I am neither a native korean speaker nor a professional translator and all the english subtitles and translations are by no means official. They are just part of my personal research on SCJ that I want to share with you.
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